Canadian leader Trudeau stresses importance of U.S.-Canada ties

The prime minister hammered home the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the “historic relationship” between the neighboring countries..

Jacqueline Tempera Journal Staff Writer jacktemp

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau focused on the importance of Canada’s relationship with the United States during his keynote address to governors Friday afternoon.

The first foreign leader to ever speak at a National Governors Association meeting, Trudeau hammered home the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the “historic relationship” between the neighboring countries.

“The Canada-U.S. relationship is far too important to assume that Americans are as focused on it as we are,” Trudeau said, before a packed ballroom at the Rhode Island Convention Center. “We are focused on just how interlinked our economies have become and just how crucial this is to prosperity and security on both sides of this border.”

His remarks come after President Donald Trump notified Congress that he wants to renegotiate the NAFTA deal. In the letter to congressional leaders in May, Trump gave Mexico and Canada 90 days' notice before negotiations will officially begin. Trump has called the 1994 agreement “the worst trade deal ever signed by the U.S.” but later assured allies he wasn’t planning on pulling out.

Trudeau seemed enthusiastic about negotiations and downplayed the significance.

“NAFTA isn’t perfect. No such agreement ever is. We think it should be updated and modernized as it has been a dozen times over the past quarter century,” said Trudeau in his speech. “And I have every expectation that it will be to benefit working people in all three countries.”

In highlighting the importance of the relationship between the two nations, the 45-year-old stroked American egos, calling the country “the world’s only superpower.”

And in a lighter metaphor: “While you are an elephant, Canada is no mouse. We are more like a moose. Strong and peaceable, but massively outweighed.”

He also made sure the governors realized his country’s vital role in the U.S. economy. Two thirds of states, including Rhode Island, do more trade with Canada than any other nation, he said. He mentioned this in his keynote address, in his meeting with Gov. Gina Raimondo, and later at a press conference.

Raimondo, too, reiterated this point after a meeting with Trudeau: “Canada is Rhode Island’s biggest trading partner by a lot.”

“I think it’s really smart of him to reach out directly to governors,” Raimondo said to reporters following a private meeting with Trudeau. “That’s the grassroots governing of America. And, he reached out and will continue to reach out to President Trump.”

The prime minister avoided any criticism of Trump, who on many issues, such as immigration, trade, and energy, seems like his antithesis. He focused on the positives, saying he had “a great conversation” with Vice President Mike Pence. They spoke about security, international development and “the coalition against Daesh,” Trudeau said, referring to the Islamic State.

The most serious part of his prepared remarks came when he warned governors against taking “politically tempting shortcuts” on trade deals.

“Once we travel down that road, it quickly becomes a cycle of tit for tat, race to the bottom, where all sides lose,” Trudeau said. “Friends — Canada doesn’t want to go there. If anything, we’d like a thinner border for trade, not a thicker one.”

He was jovial on stage, complimenting Rhode Island beaches and saying he was “honored” to draw the crowd of hundreds when they could be sitting outside.

And, as Trudeau is wont to do, he wore bright red and blue socks that peeked out from his brown dress shoes — a topic of conversation among many reporters and guests alike.

— jtempera@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7121

On Twitter: @jacktemp

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